Tag Archives: timber frame homes

Designing Your Timber Frame Home – The Journey Begins

March 28, 2012

Designing your new timber frame home is a journey of sorts. You’ll bring
all the luggage you’ve gathered along the way. Homes you’ve seen on
television shows, homes you’ve seen in magazines, homes you’ve
driven past, homes you’ve lived in and visited…they’re all packed neatly
away, waiting to be sorted and reviewed upon arrival at the design desk.

This is where the fun begins. The kitchen you loved when you visited a
friend in the mountains may not fit into the bungalow you envisioned
when you thought about driving up the driveway each day. That great
Roman tub set up on a granite platform…beautiful in the magazine, but it
might not work in your master bath.

Form follows function. That’s the architectural rule and it’s as true today
as it was in 1852 when sculptor Horatio Greenough used it in speaking
of the organic principals of architecture. Architect Louis Sullivan
expanded it to “form ever follow function” in 1896 and that’s the rule.

So, you lay out all the pictures, ideas, and suggestions you brought on
this journey and you begin with what’s important. You consider the
space and how you’ll use it as you begin to lay out your timber frame
floor plan. You talk about the site and the budget …they are critical to
this journey. You discuss the way you’ll live and how this home will
serve you. Your house plan will address your lifestyle long before it can
be tweaked to address the style you’ll see when you drive up your
driveway.

Timber frame house plans are similar to regular plans, but without the
restrictions that bearing walls bring to the table. They are much easier
to work with and much more flexible. As you begin this journey, you’ll
appreciate that difference.

As you fit your “baggage” into the plan, you’ll find some pieces work
and some don’t. You’ll find that there are ways to make the important
things come together in creative and exciting ways. You new home plan
will gradually become “your” home.

The design team you choose to work with will be critical as you move
forward. They can’t take your ideas, pull them together and say “this is
what you asked for”. They have to be unafraid to step out and make
suggestions. They need to pull from their experience with other
homeowners and most of all they need to listen. So take that first step
and begin your journey. It will be the trip of a lifetime.

Give me a call. I’d be pleased to talk with you and to tell you about my
own experience in designing my dream home and to help you begin
your journey.

Bonnie Pickartz

Just email me or give me a call at 828-524-8662.

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Timber Frame Homes – Perfect Small Homes

February 2, 2012

Small Homes aren’t a trend.  They represent a way of life, both past and future.  A simpler life where home was shelter, not a status symbol or fad.  In the past, people built homes to fit their needs.  As their families grew, their homes grew, but only enough to provide the space they needed … comfortable space.

Over time we expanded our spaces, expanded not because we were more comfortable, but because we could.  Now, it’s time to step back.  We need to remember that the space we build, we have to maintain, we have to heat and cool, we have to “keep”.  That space can then take over our lives in ways large and small.

So, we’ve begun to step back, to build our homes to shelter us and to allow us to live comfortably.  We make a decision to design our homes to have space that fits our lifestyle and not to build out just because we can.  We become happier with smaller.  And maybe happier because we’re living smaller.

So, think through the way you live.  Think about the rooms that are seldom used and the size of the rooms that you do use.  Bring everything into the human scale and you’ll live easier and more comfortably.   So we encourage you to live smaller, live more simply.  Don’t forgo elegance and charm, live smaller and live better.

Timber frames allow us to build smaller.  We have no wasted space for bearing walls and hallways.  Space is divided to best fit the way we live.   Timber frames and small homes, what a great concept.

Thanks for letting me share, Bonnie Pickartz.

 

 

 

 

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A Timber Frame Opportunity

October 20, 2011

Occupy Goshen Timber Frame Homes

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Building A Timber Frame Infographic

August 21, 2011

This infographic brings it all together!

All the stuff you need to know to design and build your timber frame home…condensed.

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What’s Old Is New Again in a Timber Frame Home

July 21, 2011

When we built our timber frame home, we made every effort to work with reclaimed, recycled, reused, repurposed, and re-just about anything materials. It was important that our home felt old while living new.

One of the choices we made was to buy a washer-dryer combination that was energy efficient and let us put clothes in to wash and take them out (of the same machine) dry and ready to fold or hang.   There were several models on the market and we decided that the LG unit would serve us best.  Except…there wasn’t one new unit to be found.  The older model was off the market and the new one wasn’t yet available.

So we searched for a gently used unit that would not only let us know if we really could live with a washer/dryer combination that took 3 hours to wash a dry a load of clothes, but would also save us money.   Craig’s List came to the rescue and a short trip to Atlanta landed us just the right piece of laundry equipment.  Since our timber frame featured lots of gently used items, this wasn’t a problem for us.

Now, we thought we were onto something unique and new.  We couldn’t find anyone who had used one that wasn’t a smaller apartment or RV sized unit (which didn’t rate very well).   We loved the concept of no washer to dryer switch (and no moldy smelling clothes if we forgot to switch them).

And today, we still love our washer-dryer.  It serves us well and fits well into the laundry closet we designed into our home.  Timber frames allow for lots of flexibility in room placement, so our laundry space is tucked off of a hallway, accessible to the bedroom and bath.

And now, the surprise for us.  We think we have the latest technology and love showing off our “easy” washer/dryer.

I’m looking through some old magazines (really old …1956) and find an ad for a Philco Duomatic.  Surprise…it’s a washer/dryer combination and sold for a whopping $369.95.  Who knew?  So while we aren’t dismayed, we were a little shocked that it never took the market by storm.  Maybe it was before it’s time.  Most people didn’t have dryers in 1956 (at least in my neighborhood).

So old is new again in our timber frame home.  And we are loving it.  Washing, drying, now if someone will just invent a machine that folds clothes.  We would be “cooking with gas”….but that’s another story.

So, plan your home, build it, and fill it with things you love and that you’ll use and enjoy.

And that’s enough for now.

See you soon, Bonnie Pickartz.

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No Ducts in the Attic of a Timber Frame

June 23, 2011

Summer brings to mind not only warm evenings and flowers, but the cost to cool a home.  Timber frames are uniquely qualified to withstand the onslaught of summer heat because by the nature of the design, the ductwork is inside the building envelope.  If you consider that just something to work around as you design your timber frame home, you’ve missed a very important point.

Timber frames are typically enclosed in an insulated envelope.  That necessitates having all the ducts and plumbing inside a conditioned space.  Doing just this is really a “best practice”, but timber frames do it naturally.  The importance means lower cooling costs and less loss of cool air to the heat.   If ducts reside in an unconditioned attic, the loss is compounded by the superheated air that accumulates in the attic. The air conditioning unit works harder to produce less cool air.   In warmer climates, this is a significant loss.

In cooler climates, the reverse is true.  If the ducts are run through an unconditioned attic, the heat is sucked away from the warm air before it can get to the rooms it is meant to heat.

An excellent article on the Energy Vanguard Blog makes the case for getting the ducts out of the attic.  They linked to an article by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory “Ducts in the attic?  What were they thinking?” that offers statistics and real numbers that impact the comfort of a home and the energy used.

So why am I saying all of this.  Because it’s a problem that timber frame homeowners don’t have to deal with…ever.  The ducts are inside the conditioned shell in timber frames.  The way it should be done is the way it’s done in a timber frame.

So, as our energy bills languish (our running tally for the past twelve months is $1026 to heat/cool and supply electricity to all lights and appliances), we once more get to offer yet another reason why timber frames are sustainable and energy efficient.

Building a timber frame home is simply the best choice.  And when you build remember to Build Boldly.

 

 

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Comfort in Timber Frames

June 3, 2011

The heat of summer arrived early this year.  With temperatures soaring to the 90′s, we’re seeing days as hot as we’d expect in August.   But it seems timber frames with insulated panels are a good place to be when the weather doesn’t cooperate.

We haven’t had to turn on the air conditioning yet at our house.  The nights are cool, so we open the windows and sleep in the cool night air.   Then, in the morning we close the windows before it gets hot and we head off to work.   The house holds the cool, so when we come home late in the afternoon, with the temperatures hovering around 90, inside is fresh and cool.  We turn on the fans and are comfortable until it’s time to open the windows again.

Timber frames are energy efficient.  That’s a fact.  Most people who build them insulate them well and are concerned about sustainability.   Structural insulated panels (ours are R-24 wall and R-40 roof polyurethane panels) make saving energy easy.

So it’s summer time and the living is easy…in our timber frame.

 

 

 

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Talking Timber Frames

May 12, 2011

In case you couldn’t tell it, at Goshen Timber Frames, we live and breathe timber frames.  Most days are consumed by all things timber frame, not a bad way to live, I’d say.  To that end, we’ve added a “chat now” button to the Goshen website.

This allows us to visit with some of the more than 7,000 people who come to our website each month to look at plans, read the educational articles, check out the photos…or just to hang out.

If you happen to stop by, chat me up, say “hello”.  If I’m not available,  then I’m visiting with someone who called or someone who came into the office to talk timber frames in person, so drop me an email.  I’m all about communication.

So, stop on by and browse awhile (that’s why they are called “browsers”) and take time to say “hey”.  If you have a question, I might have the right answer. If not, I’ll get it for you and send it your way.

So…until we chat…I with you a wonderful month of May.

Later,  Bonnie Pickartz

 

 

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Timber Frames – The Structural Advantage

April 12, 2011

The structural advantage of timber frames has been substantiated in the centuries old buildings worldwide.  Wood, when joined by craftsmen using old and time tested techniques, is a forgiving and enduring material.

Wooden buildings centuries of years old are still used daily around the world.  We visited a chocolate shop in France and were far more interested in the joinery than in the chocolates (but we did enjoy them).   Seeing the timbers that have sustained through hundreds of years of use and even abuse was rewarding.  We celebrated not only the chocolate, but the historic building.

To think that the structures that we are building today will be visited with awe and that they will serve as inspiration for new buildings centuries from now is humbling.   It’s easy for us to get caught up in the beauty and drama of a timber frame, but the structure is really the most important element.

So, if you live in a timber frame, celebrate the structure.  If you don’t live in a timber frame home, you might want to join this celebration…it will go on for centuries.

Another of Goshen Timber Frames “Educate Yourself” Webinars will be presented on May 20th.  Contact Bonnie Pickartz at bonnie@goshenframes.com for more information.

 

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Building A Timber Frame

March 24, 2011

Building a timber frame home is an adventure, a challenge, and at the end of the day, a reward.  John and Janice have taken it very seriously.  They’ve built their own home, working early and late, a labor of love.  And they blogged it along the way.

And the reward is near.  Their home is almost finished and their love of timber frames shows, along with their artistry and talent.  So, today we share with you Building Our Timber Frame – The Suttons . They’ve shown us all how there is beauty, character, and space in a small timber frame home.

Each person or couple will ultimately decide how involved they will be in the process of building their own timber frame home.  Some will be up to their elbows in it, drilling, painting, hammering, and cleaning up. Others will watch from a distance, none the less involved and enjoying. Some will be somewhere in the middle, doing the work they are comfortable with and leaving the rest to others.

Soon, very soon, they will be living in their new home.  They’ll marvel at the beauty of their timber frame and will smile as they walk up to the door each day.  So check out their blog and get to know them. They have not only built the home of their dreams…they have enjoyed the process.

If you’d like to visit the Sutton’s new home, contact Bonnie Pickartz at 828-524-8662.

And when you build…build boldly.

 

 

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